NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport women's basketball team is off to a 3-0 start away from home and will open the doors to the Freeman Center for the first time in 2023-24 on Wednesday night as they welcome in Bridgewater College (2-1). The Captains will tip off against the Eagles at 5:30 p.m. to kick off a four-game homestand to close out the month of November.
Ranked No. 3 in the nation, Christopher Newport has picked up right where it left off last season, winning its first three games of the season, and hopes to also continue right where it left off the home floor. The Captains have won 40 straight games in their home building, ranking as the longest active streak in Division III and just one win shy of the program record set from 2009-2011. CNU has also won 15 straight home openers and boast an impressive 19-3 all-time record in home openers since the Freeman Center opened in 2000-01.
By the end of this season, the Captains will play their 300th home game since the doors opened and the Freeman Center has become one of the most dominant home court advantages in Division III. The Captains are 251-38 all-time for a winning percentage of nearly 87 percent and the team has lost more than one game in a season at home only nine times in the 22 seasons it has played on C.J. Woollum Court. Over the last six seasons, Christopher Newport is 69-3 for a .958 winning percentage at home.
All that said, it will be only the fourth time that Bridgewater has played against CNU in the Freeman Center with the Captains taking the previous three. The all-time series against the Eagles is knotted at 13 games apiece but the Captains are currently riding a seven-game winning streak dating back to the 2015-16 season.
Christopher Newport has been led by C2C Player of the Week
Camille Malagar, averaging 10.0 points per game, and
Alivia Giles, pouring in 9.0 points per game and leading the team in rebounding with 6.0 per contest.
Hannah Orloff and
Alexia Lindsey round out the quartet of Captains that have each started the first three games; Orloff is knocking down a team-high 61.1 percent of her shots while Lindsey has battled for 4.0 rebounds per game while adding four steals and a pair of assists.
The freshman class has already seen a lot of experience through the first week and the five new players are each averaging at least 9.5 minutes per game.
Mia Wilson leads the group with 17.0 minutes played per game while averaging 6.0 points per contest.
Bridgewater will counter with a squad that handled Mary Baldwin in the season opener, 76-38, before splitting a pair at their season-opening tip-off tournament with a win aainst Rutgers-Newark, 80-20, and a loss to Catholic, 67-56. Riley Corcoran leads the squad with 10.7 points per game while Jaden Alsberry and Jaiden Polston have controlled the paint by averaging a pair of near double-doubles. Alsberry is scoring 9.0 with 9.0 rebounds per game while Polston has 10.3 boards to go with 8.3 points per contest.
The doors will be opened an hour prior to tip-off, at 4:30 p.m., and tickets will be available at the Freeman Center box office. For fans unable to attend in person, live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com.
